There has previously been provided a great variety of sexual stimulation devices, sexual aids and other adult novelty toys. The well-known female vibrator has had the same basic configuration for a long time, namely, a fixed elongated outer shell to which vibrations are imparted by a battery-powered motor contained in the interior of the device. The vibrator can be used for sexual stimulation as well as massage to the muscles and tissues of the body for the benefits of relaxation and pleasure, as well as to enhance the physiological or psychological well being of people with certain limitations or disabilities. Other claimed benefits include the prevention of transmitted diseases, and maintaining marital harmony.
However, the prior devices have limited variability in motion. They typically have a fixed outer shape that only vibrates and cannot provide longitudinal stroke motion. Some prior devices have provided limited longitudinal reciprocation but not a longitudinal stroke motion. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 751,031 to Wantz, a massage vibrator has a rotary shaft and cam follower arrangement for producing pounding (longitudinal) movements or rubbing (rotary) movements of a massager end. U.S. Pat. No. 1,516,717 to Coleman discloses a massage vibrator with a crown cam connector in the output shaft to provide longitudinal vibrations. U.S. Pat. No. 6,190,307 to Tsai discloses an eccentric vibratory device which produces transverse oscillation constrained to the diameter of the device, but also does not provide longitudinal stroke motion. U.S. Pat. No. 4,722,327 to Harvey and U.S. Pat. No. 5,076,261 to Black disclose female sex therapeutic devices that produce horizontal stroke motions, however, these are obtained by cumbersome eccentric disk and yoke follower arrangements contained in a bulky motor-drive housing. Thus, the prior stimulation or massage devices have not provided horizontal stroke motion which is obtained with a compact form factor and which can provide wide variability in stroke motion.
The prior devices also have limited user controls and fixed or limited variability of use. Many are designed as larger electromechanical devices that are cumbersome to use and operate and are further constrained by attached wires. Smaller hand-held devices have used electronic controls to reduce the size of the device, however, they are not designed to handle substantial reaction forces. Physical reaction forces must be absorbed by the support provided by the user as well as the device itself, thereby limiting the effectiveness of the device's output motions.
Recent proposals have attempted to link the control of a sex toy device to a computer connected to a network to provide stimulation to a person remotely. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,368,268 to Sandvick discloses a system for interactive virtual control of sexual aids on a network in which one or more users are connected by their computers to a web site and can enter control inputs on an input device connected to their computers which are transmitted as control signals to a remote device of another user while transmitting a video image to be seen on the computer display of the remote user. U.S. Pat. No. 5,984,880 to Lander similarly discloses an interactive remote control system in which input on a haptic or force-feedback input device connected to one user's computer results in control signals being transmitted to a remote stimulation device connected to another user's computer. However, such systems require the user(s) to enter control input and/or be imaged on a video camera while seated or positioned near their computer and display, which may not provide a sufficiently convenient or relaxing environment for the intended purpose of sending or receiving sexual stimulation.